It’s official - getting behind the wheel of an Abarth hot-hatch is guaranteed to make you ‘happy’, according to new scientific testing.
The Abarth range of pocket rockets - all based on the dinky Fiat 500 - prove that small can also be mighty.
You can choose from the 165 hp ‘595’ cars or the more powerful, 180 hp ‘695’ hatches, while there’s also a good selection of extreme ‘Editions’ and sporty packs.
Leasing an Abarth is also a fantastic gateway into hot-hatch enjoyment, full stop, with our Select deals beginning at just £223 per month* at time of writing.
And now a new, first-of-its-kind trial - using facial recognition software to measure the emotions felt by both drivers and passengers in a track-bound Abarth - has revealed how the prominent feeling was, predictably, ‘happiness’.
The research was conducted by Dr Dale Esliger, from Loughborough University, and participants were put through various driving challenges at Mallory Park racetrack near Leicester.
The test subjects were driving the Abarth F595, 595 Esseesse and 595 Competizione.
A ‘hot lap’ provoked the most ‘happiness’ but when they were forced to become a passenger in a car piloted by a professional racing driver, 11.9% of participants also felt both ‘fear and shock’!
The facial recognition technology was used alongside heart rate sensors - Electrocardiogram (ECG) and Photoplethysmography (PPG) - allowing Abarth to ‘accurately detect an array of emotions among individuals’.
Reader in Digital Health, Dr Dale Esliger, said:
“The constellation of biometric equipment that we used allowed us to accurately detect an array of emotions that were experienced when driver’s and passenger’s get into an Abarth, while detecting the most prominent emotion during the respective driving activities. Research within this remit is limited, however, I suspect it will be an area within the automotive industry that will continue to be explored, as manufacturers strive to improve the driving experiences of their cars.”
Greg Taylor, Fiat and Abarth, UK Managing Director, added:
“We always knew anecdotally that the levels of joy our cars bring to the driver and passengers, but now we have some preliminary data from one of the world's leading sport universities to back that up.
“Our products are not only designed to excite drivers on the road, but they’re also perfect track day cars too.”
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